Stony Creek bald eagle eaglet takes to the skies (with video)

Photo submitted by JOAN BONIN
A bald eagle eaglet flies back to its nest at Stony Creek Metropark. The eaglet, the first born in Stony Creek in more than 100 years, fledged on July 8. It has spent the last two weeks gaining strength and confidence it its flying ability. In about a month, it will start hunting for its own food.

Nearly three months after the first bald eagle eaglet in the history of Stony Creek Metropark was born, the young bird recently took flight for the first time.

It can now be seen circling the area around its nest as it gains strength and confidence in its flying ability.

The female eaglet, born on approximately April 14, fledged on July 8, according to Ruth Glass, Stony Creekís expert volunteer birder. Immediately after the young eagle took flight in a downward trajectory, it disappeared from view. Concerned observers didnít see the bird for hours after it left the nest. Stormy weather prevented observers from monitoring the birdís whereabouts after that.

Glass contacted Dave Best, a retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife employee now in charge of monitoring bald eagles in Michigan, who expressed concern to Glass that the eaglet was perhaps grounded or injured and may be susceptible to predators, such as coyotes. Stony Creek personnel performed a search of the area and found the eaglet very close to its nest on July 9 in the lower branches of a nearby tree. The low-hanging branches are not visible from the public viewing area, which is about one-fourth of a mile or more from the nest. The arrival of the metropark personnel on the scene prompted the eaglet to fly to a higher location. It now spends most of its resting time in that higher location.

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While the eaglet has begun flying, it is not yet capable of feeding itself. The eagletís parents will continue to bring it food for about the next month. Toward the end of July or early August, the young bird will begin traveling with its parents to learn how to hunt for itself.

Earlier reports on the birth of the eaglet confirmed that it was the first bald eagle ever born in the park, which was established in 1964. Glass has confirmed through conversations with a third-generation member of a family that has lived in the area of the former town of Mount Vernon that no bald eagles have nested in the area since at least 1900. Walt Geno, currently a resident of Washington Township, told Glass his father and grandfather said no bald eagles had ever nested in the area and if they were ever seen they would be shot on site, assuming that would protect their livestock or reduce competition for animals they may both be hunting. The bald eagle didnít receive federal protection until 1940. The golden eagle received equal protection in 1962. That means the eaglet would be the first in the region in more than 100 years.

Stony Creek Metropark now covers some of the ground where the town of Mount Vernon, centered at 28 Mile Road and Mound, once stood. Mt. Vernon Road now runs along the northwest border of the park in a north/south direction and continues just south of the park. The road was dissected when Stony Creek was dammed and Stony Creek Lake was formed.

Best said once the eaglet learns how to fend for itself, it will use the nest as a staging ground to hunt. But even at that point, the eaglet is still not out of the woods. According to Bill Bowerman, a professor and department chair at University of Maryland school of environmental science and technology and an expert in Michigan bald eagle research, recent studies show that approximately 70 percent of eaglets nationwide survive their first year of life, with the highest mortality rate in the first six months. Once the young bird is on its own, it is simply looking to survive and will either stay around Stony Creek or leave depending upon its ability to acquire food.

Young bald eagle survival numbers have gone way up in the last 50 years, when our national symbol was in danger of extinction throughout most of its range. Habitat destruction and degradation, illegal shooting, and the contamination of its food sources (largely as a consequence of the pesticide DDT) decimated the bald eagle population. In the mid-í80s, according to Bowerman, only about 10 percent of eaglets would survive their first year. Habitat protection afforded by the Endangered Species Act, the federal governmentís banning of DDT and conservation actions taken by the American public have helped the bald eagles make a remarkable recovery.

Once the eaglet learns to hunt on its own, there is no certainty as to whether it will stay in the area permanently or leave. If the food source is plentiful, there is a very good chance it will stay. The adult eagles will not force their young from their feeding territory if there is enough food for everyone. In fact, Bowerman said in some inland lake areas, observers can see multiple nests and three or four generations of youngsters living in the same vicinity. So if the Stony Creek watershed can support them, itís possible to see the eaglet stay in the area and perhaps raise its own young there.

While bald eagles have seasonal movement, itís not a migration in the typical sense. If the bird lives near a moving water source in which the surface does not freeze over, it will probably stay in the same location. If the water source does freeze in the winter, it most likely will leave and go far enough south that it once again encounters open water. Glass said Stony Creek Lake usually doesnít freeze completely, and young eagles can be seen hunting and eating fish and ducks during the winter.

Stony Creek officials are still reluctant to reveal the location of the nest, since the eaglet is still in the vulnerable pre-six months stage of life. But enthusiasts are asked to contact the Stony Creek Nature Center for more information.